Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will
never
go hungry,
and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
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Is Civil Disobedience Ever Called For?
Virtually all Christians would agree that we should rescue those being killed by
abortion. The
question is whether we should disobey the civil authorities in order to
do so. In other words, do we have the right to disobey the civil
government? If so, what is the extent of that right? How far are we
permitted to go in that disobedience? What must be the situation
before we can legitimately (Scripturally) disobey the law? If we are
not permitted to disobey, what recourse, if any, do we have against a
tyrannical/ungodly government?
Scripture states very plainly that we must "be
in subjection to the governing authorities (civil government). For there is no authority except from God, and those which
exist are established by God. Therefore, he who resists authority has
opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive
condemnation upon themselves" (Romans
13:1,2).
This appears, at first, to settle the question. However,
many have pointed out that there are cases in Scripture where God's
people have disobeyed the civil government and were apparently
commended for their disobedience. Among the cases mentioned are those
of Rahab of Jericho; the Egyptian midwives; and Ehud, the left-handed
judge.
Leaving those cases aside, I believe we can better address
the issue of civil disobedience by focusing upon what God tells us in
His Word about obedience to authority. We need also to consider the
whole of Scriptural teaching rather than concentrating our attention on
specific cases.
It is very clear in Scripture that if a Christian is
required by a civil government to do something contrary to God's Word,
the Christian has a biblical responsibility to disobey man and obey
God. Virtually all Christians will agree on that point. Among Scripture
passages that teach such disobedience are Daniel 3:1-27; Daniel 6:4-24;
and Acts 4:18,19.
What is not so clear to many, is whether we have a right
to actively seek to disobey a civil government which is allowing the
destruction of millions; especially if we are not required by that
government to be directly involved in the destruction. Do we have the
right to disobey other laws in order to prevent unbelievers from doing
what the government has decided is legal? I have come to the personal
conclusion that Scripture teaches
that we have no such rights. That decision is based on the following
considerations.
First, though it is an argument from silence and therefore
relatively weak; G.I. Williamson has pointed out in The
Westminster Confession of Faith For Study Classes, "There is no
evidence that the apostles or the apostolic church intermeddled in
civil affairs." Williamson has further stated that "Christ...made no
effort to wield political power or to influence directly political
events by making pronouncements on civil matters." (pp. 250-251). This
in spite of the fact that the Roman government was clearly opposed to
God and His people and, in fact, assisted in the crucifixion of the
Lord of Glory.
Second, if the civil government is indeed "established by
God", then, as Calvin has rightly put it, "We owe" an "attitude of
reverence...toward all our rulers in the highest decree, whatever they
may be like." (Institutes of the Christian Religion, p.
1516). This "attitude of reverence" must be held toward the government,
not because it is a godly government or because we agree with
its pronouncements and programs, but because
it has been established and given its authority by God.
We cannot argue that we should obey only godly governments
or only godly laws. Calvin eliminates that argument when he states
that, "if you conclude...that service ought to be rendered only to just
governors, you are reasoning foolishly. For husbands are also bound to
their wives and parents to the children, by mutual responsibilities (as
the government and the citizen are). Suppose parents and husbands
depart from their duty.
Suppose parents show themselves so hard and intractable to their
children, whom they are forbidden to provoke to anger [Eph. 6:4], that
by their rigor they tire them beyond measure. Suppose husbands most
despitefully use their wives, whom they are commanded to love [Eph.
5:25] and to spare as weaker vessels [I Peter 3:7]. Shall either
children be less obedient to their parents or wives to their husbands?
They are still subject even to those who are wicked and undutiful." (Institutes, p. 1516).
Calvin has presented an extremely telling argument! He has
reminded us that God has set up an authority structure in the world. As
Christ is the Head of the Church; as the man is the head of the wife;
as the parents are the head of the child; so too the government is the
head of the people. Just as we owe Christ obedience; just as the wife
owes the husband obedience; just as the children owe the parents
obedience; so too, we owe
obedience to the civil government - to the extent that it does not
require us to do something contrary to God's Law.
A final argument from Scripture is the example of Daniel
in Dan. 6:6ff. In that passage, King Darius made a proclamation that "anyone who makes a petition to any god or man besides"
the king "for thirty days, shall be cast into the lions' den."
Although Daniel knew of the proclamation (vs. 10), he refused to pray
to King Darius and
continued his daily petitions to his God (vs. 10). Daniel did not,
however, make any attempt to prevent others from praying, even though
he knew their continued worship of Darius would surely result in their
eternal destruction. It is important for us to see that Daniel made no
attempt to stop others from sin except by his personal example of
piety. Nor did Daniel break any other laws of the land in order to
change what was surely an ungodly law of the king.
God has clearly placed the civil government in authority
over us, but He has not given that government the right to take
advantage of its position of authority. Yet, even if it does so, do we
have the right to disobey the authority that God has placed over us?
According to the argument of God's authority structure, I believe the
clear answer is no.
If this is true, then what recourse do we have as
Christians living under a government that allows such an ungodly
situation as abortion on demand? Much, I say! We can pray that the
Almighty, Sovereign God would bring to an end such a terrible
slaughter. We can pray believing that He will bring it
to pass. We can trust that in any event, God will not be mocked by the
ungodly rulers He has placed
in positions of authority. He will have justice in the land.
Additionally, there are some very specific actions that have been
suggested by others (A Study Committee Report Submitted to
the Session of New Life Presbyterian Church, Escondido, CA, April
25, 1989). 1. Give money, food, clothes,
furniture, and time to support the work of pro-life crisis pregnancy
centers. 2. Write letters -- to the President,
the Supreme Court, your congressman and senator, state assemblyman and
senator, local newspaper, etc. 3. Picket an abortion clinic in a
legal way. 4. Become trained to "sidewalk
counsel" women seeking to kill their unborn children - before these
women enter the abortion clinic. 5. Open your home to women with
problem pregnancies until their babies are delivered. 6. Contribute offerings (above your
tithe) to groups such as Right to Life and the Christian Action Council
who "lobby" in Washington on behalf of unborn children. 7. Offer subscriptions to pro-life
newsletters and magazines to local libraries. 8. Volunteer to answer the telephone
at a Crisis Pregnancy Center. 9. Volunteer to baby sit the children
of volunteers at the Crisis Pregnancy Center. 10. Financially support Americans
United for Life (AUL), a group of lawyers dedicated to overturning Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court. They have filed many
legal briefs which have been pivotal in the abortion area. They are a
non-profit organization with a tremendous impact in opposing abortion! 11. Buy the building which houses an
abortion clinic and legally force its relocation.
For additional ideas, see Joseph
M. Scheidler's book, Closed:
99 Ways to Stop Abortion.
Further, in Isaiah 10:1,2, God says, "Woe to
those who enact evil statutes and to those who constantly record unjust
decisions, so as to deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of My
people of rights." We should understand from Scripture, that God,
Himself, will exact justice against those who are disobedient and who
disregard His Law.
We should also understand that God is sovereign. By that I
mean that Scripture teaches there is nothing that happens under the sun
that is not under the direct supervision of the Omnipotent, Omniscient,
Omnipresent Creator. Proverbs 21:1 states that "The king's
heart is channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it
wherever He wishes." If we truly believe Scripture to be the
infallible Word of God, then we have to accept that any
decision of the ruler is a decision of God. Therefore, to be
disobedient to any decision of the king (not directly
opposed to Scripture), is also to be disobedient to God. This also
shows us why we can disobey the ruler when he commands us to do
something contrary to God's Word. Since God is the author of order, not
confusion, He would not give us one order through His Word and a
different, conflicting order through His servant, the king.
Calvin has pointed out that there are only two kinds of
men who usurp the power of the civil government. Those, like Moses and
Othniel and other judges, who, "when they had been sent by God's lawful
calling to carry out such (rebellious acts against the government), in
taking up arms against kings, did not at all violate that majesty which
is implanted in kings by God's ordination; but, armed from heaven, they
subdued the lesser
power with the greater, just as it is lawful for kings to punish their
subordinates."
The second "kind of men, although they were directed by
God's hand whither He pleased, and executed His work unwittingly, yet
planned in their minds to do nothing but an evil act." (Institutes,
p. 1517).
In other words, Calvin is pointing out that Moses,
Othniel, Ehud, and others had a legitimate right to usurp the power of
the king because they were acting in the name of God; by His special
call; as agents of His judgment. They were, in fact, God's governmental
agents acting for God against a government contrary to God. Since none
today have that special call from God; none today may legitimately take
upon themselves the right to usurp
the power of the government established by God.
If someone does take upon himself the right to disobey the
laws implemented by the government established by God, he does so as an
evil act. If he should succeed in toppling the government or changing
the law, he acts unwittingly as God's agent and under the direction of
God's hand. Yet, he does so contrary to God's law and his purpose is
evil since he is not acting in obedience to God's revealed will.
God has not called us to be agents of rebellion against
His established government. He has not called us to be agents of
destruction against the divinely instituted order. He has called us to
obedience. Even when the situation seems desperate, we are not to take
matters into our own hands. We are to obey God's Word as revealed
through His prophets and the Incarnate Word and recorded in the pages
of Scripture. This is made very plain by
the events of I Samuel 13:5-14.
In that passage, the people are 'hard-pressed" by the
ungodly Philistines. King Saul was told to wait seven days until the
prophet Samuel arrived to conduct a sacrifice to God, prior to going
into battle against the Philistines. Saul waited the required amount of
time but Samuel did not arrive. Saul saw the situation rapidly
deteriorating. Afraid that he would lose the advantage of the moment,
Saul took matters into his own hands
and offered sacrifice, even though he was not a priest and could not
lawfully do so. Samuel arrived and condemned his action saying, You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment
of the Lord your God...now your kingdom shall not endure...because you
have not kept what the Lord commanded you." Saul lost his right to
the kingdom because of his lack of trust that God would take care of
the situation.
I fear that is the case with those who would disobey the
clear command of Romans 13:1ff in order to change what they see as a
terrible; rapidly deteriorating situation. In order not to lose the
advantage of the moment, they are willing to take matters into their
own hands; sacrificing for themselves and doing what is not lawful for
them to do. What we all need to understand is that God demands
obedience, not sacrifice (Jeremiah 7:23). He
demands that we obey Him absolutely and trust in Him to take care of
our disastrous circumstances. That is the essence of faith. If we do
otherwise, is it not to make ourselves out to be God? Do we not, by our
disobedience, demonstrate our belief that we know better than God what
the situation requires? |
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